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Garden Visit: Columbine Hall, Stowupland, 10th July

Details: Written by: Peter Lyle; Hits: 1993

Columbine Hall, Stowupland

Finding the place was quite an adventure, and we were very grateful for the HPS signs put in place by Linda and Jan.

The drive in gave us glimpses of the moat and the lovely 14th century Manor House, where we later saw a young man making an acrobatic job of lime-washing the outside from a doubtful looking ladder.

We were met by the Head Gardener, Kate Elliot, adjacent to the car park, under the Lime Walk, where the humming of the bees was remarkable. Kate told us they were intoxicated by the lime and would fall to the ground, where they would eventually recover and go about their business. Kate referred us to their map and informative leaflet, telling us we could go where we liked, and she would be around to answer any questions. It was damp enough to require jackets, but not wet enough to stop us enjoying the garden.

The leaflet gave the history of ownership of the property to the present day. Since 1993 it has been owned by Hew Stevenson, and the house was restored by his late wife, Leslie Geddes-Brown. The gardens were designed by George Carter, a Norfolk garden-designer who favours formal, clipped topiary on a grand scale. Had I taken the trouble to discover that it was one of his designs, I would have been better prepared for the degree of green, and absence of very much other colour in the garden. Having said that, I am immediately reminded of the vegetable garden, again enclosed on all sides, but packed with a wonderful array of huge, decorative and colourful vegetables, from artichokes, both Jerusalem and globe, to zucchini, grown on wooden obelisks. Brassicas were netted. Kate told us these were ravaged by sparrows otherwise, but she thought they were now big enough to take care of themselves and was planning to uncover them next week.

The herb garden was similarly prolific, with contrasting textures and colours of herbs, including a santolina, with little yellow bobble flowers, purple-leaved sage, and a lemon-scented aloysia, which used to be known as lemon verbena.

The moat and ponds, along with the quiet, green spaces, created a calm atmosphere, even though the extent of the whole garden was small, considering the number of component parts - bowling green, herb garden, walled garden, old orchard, new orchard, Lime Walk, Mediterranean garden, bog garden and wilderness, contained within the moated area, along with the house and some of the other buildings, the rest being adjacent to the moat, but outside it.

The Mediterranean garden was either embryonic or in transition, or perhaps a minimalist version, since it was a steep bank, viewed across the moat, bounded at one end by an arbutus (perhaps?) and at the other by a group of Eleagnus ‘Quicksilver’, and including several eucalyptus, a palm, and some young yews, backed by a mature yew hedge.

The buildings would have warranted closer inspection, not all appearing to be of the same era. The garden was well-endowed with Lutyens-style wooden benches, giving opportunities to sit and admire the vistas, which were part of George Carter’s formal design, added to by pairs of stone urns on plinths at appropriate intervals in the Alleé, and symmetrical sets of topiary, or otherwise architectural plants in other areas.

Finally, I had asked if we could take our dog, and Mr Stevenson had very kindly said that dogs were welcome. We don’t often hear that from garden owners!

Chris Davies

Garden Visit: Holme Hale Hall, Holme Hale, 4th September

Details: Written by: Jan Oakley; Hits: 3460

Holme Hale Hall

What a treat we were in for on our last garden visit of the year. Holme Hale Hall is a fine building with a Regency façade on a somewhat older 15^th/16^th century house. Simon and Delia Broke, our hosts, gave us an overview of the history of the home which has been in the Broke family for a number of generations.

The gardens were designed and planted by Chelsea Gold Medal winning designer Arne Maynard in 2000, and it is a joy to see his amazing talent. Arne is both a designer and a plantsman, which has resulted in a magical garden. There was abundant colour throughout the garden which is especially difficult given that there’s been so little rain this summer and it’s September.

We were given a tour by not only the owners but also Chris their gardener with plenty of amusing anecdotes along the way, such as Arne wanting to remove the swimming pool and tennis court as he considered them ugly. We walked across the wide lawn in front of the Hall which is neatly contained in a plethora of box hedging cut in both ball shapes and cloud pruned. This was accompanied by tall grasses behind the box which swayed in the breeze.

Next, we went through a pair of gates into the walled garden which is encircled by herbaceous borders packed with interesting plants with the kitchen garden in the middle. We then passed into the parterre where precisely clipped box hedging surrounded each bed which again were packed with many lovely plants. There were the warm bronze colours of Chrysanthemum ‘Rehauge’ and ‘Herbstbrokat’, complimented by Rudbeckia ‘Peking’ (an Echinacea x Rudbeckia hybrid by Brian Kabbes). Other collections featured warm pinks and lilacs including Aster ‘Coombe Fishacre’ and Althaea cannabina. In the centre was a lovely water feature in the shape of a huge shell.

We then entered the topiary garden followed by the cutting garden filled with the most heavenly scented roses. Finally, we walked through the working greenhouse where there were not only more wonderful plants but also three laminated A3 sheets which listed all of the plants in the garden along with their picture. A much simpler way of labelling plants, and nobody can take the plant label, genius. A lovely day and a garden we hope to visit again, perhaps on our usual Saturday in future so that more members can join us.

Jan Oakley

Summer Social at Fullers Mill, West Stow, Suffolk

Details: Written by: Irene Tibbenham; Hits: 3081

Summer Social at Fullers Mill, West Stow, Suffolk, Thursday 6^th August

After a truly sizzling day of high temperatures, twenty-nine of us spent a chilled evening armed with a picnic and prosecco at the secluded plantsman’s garden of Bernard Tickner, nestled in the wooded area around the River Lark. In characteristic fashion, the sales table, full of unusual and rare ‘gems’ propagated on-site, was surrounded by people passionate about plants and eager to support Perennial, a charity supporting people in horticulture; alongside visitors who’d sacrificed watching the 2^nd Day of the Test match between England and Pakistan on TV, for this excellent cause.

Staff and volunteers from Fullers Mill provided sanitised, socially-distanced tables under the welcome shade of trees, seemingly pruned for this very task. A trustee from Perennial delivered a talk describing the history and aims of the charity, sandwiched between visitors’ multiple excursions made to various parts of this tranquil water garden, which clearly was not suffering water stress - thanks to the high water table - which many of our gardens were currently enduring at this time.

Conversations around Covid-19’s impact dominated much of the discussions, with many of us grateful to be amongst familiar friends, and thankful to be living here.

Irene Tibbenham

Garden Visit: Tyger Barn, Toft Monks, 11th July

Details: Written by: Jan Oakley; Hits: 3110

Twenty-Five members and guests were warmly welcomed by Julianne Fernadez to her lovely garden on a bright and breezy July afternoon. This was a much belated first garden visit of the season and all the more welcome because of the late start.

Tyger Barn is close to Beccles, situated in an elevated position which leaves the garden somewhat exposed to easterly gales as Julianne explained. The garden was created by Julianne to blend into the surrounding meadow and ancient woodland, using the Japanese concept of shakkei or borrowed landscape. There are a number of distinct areas in the garden with a mixture of herbaceous borders, sheltered courtyards and a wild flower meadow which a plethora of butterflies and bees were enjoying.

The herbaceous borders meander around the garden in a relaxed and informal river of colour and texture with the wild flower meadow in the centre. It was lovely to wander around the garden, albeit at a social distance, with our fellow members catching up on all their news.

Jan Oakley